Human by Day, Turtle by Night, Ninja by Heart
by Silverfire14
Summary: HUMAN AU - My name is Leonardo Hamato. My brothers and I were adopted from Japan and today we are starting high school and the fifteenth year of our lives. But something's happening to us...unexplainable martial arts skills, telepathic communication, and an evil madman threatening the fate of the universe? Yup, freshman year just got a lot more interesting...


**Hello! Yes, if you can believe it, I am starting ANOTHER story. I know, I'm a horrible person for galavanting around thinking up all these new ideas while leaving my other two poor stories with no updates in sight. Never fear, now that I've got this off my chest I shall have new chapters ready soon (fingers crossed)!**

**Hope you enjoy my first TMNT Human AU story!**

**N.B. - The turtles' human forms are based on pics posted on deviantart by both karenwhitescorpio and LordessSesshomaru. I'm not sure if either, both, or neither are the actual artists, but whoever it maybe, I thank you for inspiring me :)**

DISCLAIMER - All in good time, all in good time...

**Chapter 1: Preparatory Pancakes**

LEO:

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

That was the first sound I heard as my brain finally ascended into the world of consciousness. Usually I am an early riser, but Mikey had forced us to stay up all night saying that since it was our last night of freedom we should enjoy an all-nighter of pizza, soda, and video games until the crack of dawn.

I should have known not to listen to Mikey's ideas when he is high on sugar and junk food.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

I groaned and fumbled around blindly, trying to find the blessed snooze button while keeping my head buried in my pillow, but alas the darn thing still eluded me.

Of all the possible technological advances out there in the world, I do not believe there's one so loved and hated by the general human population as the alarm clock.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

And right now I was really beginning to feel the hate part growing inside me. I forced myself to resist the huge temptation of smashing the blasted thing to pieces and snuggling back into the blissful utopia of my covers.

But of course then reality took hold and my eyes snapped open, sleep forgotten, as I realized what day it was. _First day of school._

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Sighing, I was finally able to pull myself into a sitting position, running my hand through my unruly black hair to try to school it into some acceptable shape or form. I sighed as with each attempt to flatten it, it always sprang back like it had a mind of it's own. _With a nice hot shower and a comb_, _anything's possible_, I thought as I yawned, stretching my arms high above my head to the ceiling.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

And back to that annoyingly helpful alarm clock. I reached over to finally shut off it's infernal beeping when a familiar gruff voice cut into my thoughts.

_Damnit Fearless, if ya don't turn off that noisemaker I'm gonna come in there and throw it out the window._

I smirked and cocked my head, _Wow Raph, you'd actually get up before noon to do that? Call the press, it's a new record._

Some mumbling and muttered threats echoed through my mind but I ignored it. _Ready for the first day of high school?_ I asked

He grunted, _Don't matter ta me….I don't care 'less it's senior year, then only one more year 'til we're outta dat hell hole. Now DAT oughta be somethin' to get excited over, Fearless._

I mentally rolled my eyes, _Well it's a big step towards our adult life so don't make me go in there and drag you out._

More indistinct muttering followed, to which I was about to retort when another soon joined the fray.

_Leo?_ A quiet sleepy voice echoed and I couldn't help but smile at its child-like tone. _Yeah baby bro_, I answered gently. _Are you up yet?_

_Not yet…beat another level on Halo last night…just, gimme…5 more…minutes…zzz…_

I sighed, and slowly dragged myself onto my feet. Mikey was the one who'd stayed up the latest. He'd even outlasted Raph, who'd mumbled something about stupid games before stomping off to his room. I soon followed when I couldn't keep my eyes open, which left one brother still unaccounted for…

I glanced over at the neatly made purple covers tucked into the obviously-not-slept-in bed on the other side of the room and shook my head. _Don?_ I called, _Donnie? Did you fall asleep in the lab again?_ No answer. I sighed again. I should've known better than to try to contact our genius brother. He'd built up the best walls over the years to keep the rest of us protected from his overwhelmingly complicated formulae and invention brainstorms. _Best to just wait 'til he's ready to get up._ I glanced at my watch. _Which had better be soon, the bus is coming in half an hour._

I staggered into the bathroom to take a quick shower, brush my teeth, and get dressed: a sky-blue elbow-length V-neck sweater, dark blue jeans, and black converse to complete the look. I even managed to comb my hair into some form of neatness before heading towards the kitchen.

I banged on the door adjacent to Don's and my room on the way. "Raph? Mikey? Up and at 'em sleepyheads, we're gonna be late!" I shouted. Of course there was no response, other than the occasional rustling of covers.

I rolled my eyes and opened the door to enter a world of utter chaos. Clothes were scattered everywhere with candy wrappers and soda cans stacked on every available surface. I almost swore the giant green slime ball in the corner (probably one of our baby brother's latest pranks) was slowly inching toward me.

On the right side I could see a human-shaped lump buried deep under bright orange covers. Comic books were stacked all around the twin bed, with superhero posters and drawings hanging on every inch of the wall like a huge mural. A small desk was tucked into one corner with an easel spattered by layers of paint.

Using an innate stealth that surprised even myself I was able to navigate around the fortress of comics and reach the lump snoring softly. I shook where I approximated the shoulder would be. "Mikey…" I whispered, "Wake up little bro, it's time for school."

"Sleepy…" a muffled voice came from the lump before it buried itself deeper under the covers. I tried again and again to rouse him but he simply ignored me and easily returned to the blissful world of dreams.

Realizing I'd have to resort to drastic methods to get my baby bro up, I shook my head and sighed. "Then I'm afraid you leave me no choice, little brother." I responded as I leaned down and began lightly brushing my fingers on either side of his torso.

Even through the thick bedcovers the effect was immediate. Michelangelo (or Mikey as we all like to call him) shot out of bed like a cannon giggling uncontrollably while holding his arms protectively over his ticklish ribs.

"Leo…" Mikey whined when he'd finally regained the ability to speak, "You promised you'd never do that." He gave me his signature kicked-puppy look.

I shrugged, "Sorry Mike, but you forced my hand."

Mikey huffed and glanced over at the other side of the room. His eyes immediately lit up with a glint of mischief that as his brother I have learned to immediately put about 500 feet of distance between myself and that impish face.

"Well," Mikey declared, "if I have to suffer then so does Raphie-boy." He marched over into the darker depths of the bedroom rubbing his hands together in pre-prank glee.

Contrary to Mikey, Raph's side of the room was like walking into a punk rock paradise. Pro wrestling and heavy metal bands were plastered on the walls with some dumbbells carelessly thrown in a corner. The only clean part was where Raph kept his pet turtle, Thorn. Mikey often joked that she was the only female that Raph would ever find, which always earned him a decent smack on the head.

As my baby bro approached the "beast" still asleep in his hammock, he slowly gathered up the slime I'd noticed earlier and held it carefully over the faint shape of a body still mostly buried deep within thick blood-red sheets. Knowing World War III would probably break when that slime dropped, I slowly backed out of the room and down to the kitchen, far enough to avoid getting in the crossfire, but within hearing distance in case Raph tried to throttle Mikey.

As I walked down the hall towards the kitchen I could smell the delicious scent of chocolate chip pancakes wafting through the air and almost drooled at the heavenly smell.

_Mmm…Okaasan never fails to make these on the first day of school, just like she's done for the past ten years_. I thought_. I remember she made those the first day we came to the US after she adopted us._

Yup, that was the first time I'd ever had pancakes. Though technically it was really the first time any of us had ever had anything other than orphanage gruel.

Despite our whole-hearted American attitudes and citizenships, my brothers and I were not born in the United States. For the first five years of our lives we were raised in an orphanage in Japan. The head of the orphanage told us she had found all four of us as newborns in a basket on the steps each wrapped in a colorful blanket. No note, no signature, no nothing. Just four blankets that tied us to our past.

Even today I've always kept that baby blue fabric they found me wrapped in close by, even when the edges frayed and the material stained by time. Whether it consoled me after a nightmare or simply kept me warm in the drafty orphanage building, it was my source of comfort over the years, something I could turn to as the big brother whom my brothers themselves always turned to. Though I have a feeling that none of them ever parted with our only personal links to the past either, though Raph will always feverishly deny ever keeping such a "stupid ole' rag."

Even so, the orphanage was our first home, where we learned some of the most important lessons about survival, and for five years we always watched each other's backs. I'm not saying that it was downright cruel there, but growing up in such a place with no parents to guide and protect you is hard for any child to experience. So as big brother I stepped up and made sure my brothers all ate and slept properly and always protected each other. I know, technically none of us even know our birth order as quadruplets, but ever since I was young something deep inside has always driven me to watch over my brothers as an older sibling should, even up to this day. All in all, we were just normal orphans who were trying to survive in the slums of Japan.

Then on our fifth birthday, we began to discover that maybe we weren't so normal after all. On that day we awoke to find that each of us had a small brown outline of a turtle imprinted on each of our right shoulders like a birthmark. Donnie snuck out to the local library to try to find answers, but it seemed nothing explain how a birthmark could appear on all four quadruplets on the same day post-birth. So our five year-old minds simply shrugged at the anomaly and continued on with our lives at the orphanage.

Later that day we first met the woman who would soon completely change our lives. Her name was May McNeil. She was an American, blonde hair and golden skin with a spatter freckles that framed her kind green eyes. At the time she was working for four weeks at the orphanage as charity work before returning to the US. McNeil-sama was different from any of the orphanage workers who'd ever taken care of us. Don't get me wrong, they weren't cruel or anything like that, but simply distant. They weren't supposed to bond with any of the children, so they didn't.

But McNeil-sama showed a genuine compassion that none of us had ever really experienced before, so of course all the children loved her. But I think Mikey was the one who really made an impression. Upon meeting, he immediately walked over to her and proceeded to attach himself to her leg before declaring for all the world to hear, "You my Mommy."

Of course I immediately rushed over and coaxed Mikey off of her leg, promising I'd give him part of my cookie after dinner if he'd go play tin soldiers with me. When I glanced up to see if McNeil-sama was angry she had this thoughtful look on her face and gently pried Mikey off before returning to the other children.

By the end of the week she had adopted all four of us and we were flying to the USA to begin our new lives in New York City.

It had taken a little while to get used to the different language and culture here in America, but the orphanage had taught us to adapt to change quickly. Of course our Japanese homeland was still a part of us and we still spoke our native tongue at home with each other and McNeil-sama, who on the first day of our official adoption told us we could call her anything we wanted depending on how comfortable we were.

_Leo?_ A soft voice cut through my thoughts. I mentally shook myself before answering. _Hey, Donnie,_ I answered. _Did you fall asleep in the lab again?_ _You know you always get horrible cricks in your neck from sleeping on that desk._ I gently reprimanded.

I could almost hear him shrugging. _Some sacrifices must be made for the greater good, big bro. And I've almost finished with this subatomic particle accelerator, which should help…_

_Donnie?_ I interrupted, knowing once he got into a techno rant we would never make the bus. _You can explain your new invention all you want on the ride to school, _I continued._ But you may want to take a shower and get dressed first, the bus will be here in ten._

I heard a pause, followed by a muttered_, Oh shell_, accompanied by some stumbling I could hear above on the rooftop.

I chuckled a bit before finally entering the kitchen to enjoy a high stack of Okaasan's best flapjacks.

I could see her standing at the counter stirring a bowl of batter while her eyes stayed glued to the small television on the end of the counter. A tall tower of pancakes was already sitting by the stove, eagerly awaiting consumption.

My mouth watered as I grabbed a plate from the cabinet and quickly piled on 3 perfectly cooked pancakes. More were soon added as Mom sporadically flipped the finished cakes onto the high-stacked plate before adding another glop of batter into the sizzling pan.

"Oyahō Okaasan." I greeted as I quickly peeked inside the pantry next to the stove for some powdered sugar. "Do you happen to know where the powdered…"

"Ehem…." I heard the sound of a throat clearing and turned to see a batter-covered spatula pointing towards the table where a bowl of powdered sugar and lemons were already waiting for me.

I couldn't help but grin. "Thanks Mom." I said and gave her a quick peck on the cheek before sitting down for breakfast. I usually prefer to use the traditional honorific "Okaasan" for mother, but even though from day one of our official adoption she told us that we could call her anything we felt comfortable with, I know she likes it whenever any of us just call her "Mom."

Okaasan smiled as she flipped another pancake, but her eyes never strayed from the television. I sighed. _Three guesses to what show is on right now._ Okaasan is a very loving mother to us, but when her favorite show the "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" is on, not even an atomic bomb could pull her away from that screen.

She claims she's been a fangirl for years, ever since the 1980s series first aired. My name, Leonardo, is technically is not my birth name. Nor is Raphael's (Raph), Donatello's (Don or Donnie), nor Michelangelo's (Mikey). Because each of us was wrapped in a differently colored blanket when we were left on the steps of the orphanage, they named us each after our assigned color: I was Ao (blue), Raph was Aka (red), Don was Murasaki (purple), and Mikey was Orenji (orange).

At the orphanage, people always saw us as kinda weird, since usually kids don't have real siblings they can bond with at the orphanage, so to them we seemed more like outsiders. Our appearances did not help either, with Raph's spiky red hair, and Mikey's golden locks and bright baby blue eyes.

Usually it was Mikey who the kids picked on the most, but we always protected our baby brother from their bullying as best we could. Things finally reached a boiling point when Raph found some kids with scissors holding Mikey down while threatening to cut off every single piece of his "stupid yellow mop." When Raph saw the tears on our baby bro's face he went berserk and practically tore apart the room as he went into a whirlwind of punches and kicks while spitting out threats in combinations I didn't even know existed. He was on the verge of dismembering those bullies if Don and I hadn't walked in, assessed the situation, and by some miracle managed to calm Raph down while telling him those slime balls weren't worth his time, even for what they did to Mikey. Of course once the director found out Raph was punished and forced to clean up the mess, but no one ever bothered to pick on Mikey again. Honestly I wouldn't be surprised if those kids were still in therapy.

That "incident" was a few weeks before we were adopted. But that same night we all had a weird dream where this shadowy figure kept saying all our names over and over again. We were all sitting in the dark, no walls, floors, ceiling, or anything. Just darkness and this foggy mist surrounding us. Of course we were all terrified out of our five year old minds, especially Mikey, who's absolutely petrified by the dark. And as we sat there, huddled together in fear, a calm and distantly familiar voice called out, "We will meet again, my children. Never forget, be strong…be strong as warriors of the Hamato clan. Do not worry, I will find you my sons…" And then it was gone. Strangely I felt a strange pang of loss as that comforting voice faded away. When we all woke those birthmarks had appeared on our arms.

After we came to the U.S., Okaasan explained that we would need last names to begin our new lives and offered her own name "McNeil" as a choice. I remember how we each immediately looked at each other, and in that weird way that only quadruplets understand, we all knew exactly what the other was thinking. We all decided to take the name "Hamato" as our surname. It felt so right to us, and we all felt deep down that it was one of the few connections we had with our past.

Okaasan also asked us if we would like to opt for more American names to symbolize the beginning of our new lives here in New York. While it was hard to let go of our former names, we decided that it would be for the better. But since we didn't have a clue what exactly an "American" name was like, of course when Okaasan suggested "Leonardo, Raphael, Donatello, and Michelangelo" we pounced, thinking we'd fit right in with such "normal American names".

But when we introduced ourselves at school, we became most puzzled when everyone kept asking us "Oh, you mean like the TMNT?" Since we had never seen the show, so we had no idea what they were talking about. It took us about a week to finally work up the courage to ask Okaasan what they meant.

And thus I came to be called "Leonardo Ao Hamato."

Of course, then we thought the weirdness of our lives was over and we could settle down as normal American teenagers. But Fate apparently had other plans.

On the morning of our tenth birthday, I abruptly awoke to three sets of voices endlessly babbling in my mind about wrestling champs, equations for the aerodynamics of go-karts, and blueprints for pouring superglue all over the bathroom floor. And when I mean in my mind, I mean the words had a sort of echoing intonation, yet it sounded like someone was talking right in my ear, which of course was impossible since I was alone in our bedroom (at the time we all shared one room since we'd done so all our lives).

After a few hours of chaos as we each tried to figure out if we were still sane with all the mindless chatter streaming through our heads, we eventually compared notes and sat down to test our limits and discuss rules. After some experimenting with each of us, Don concluded that we could all read each other's thoughts, a sort of twin telepathy except with quadruplets. But after some research he claimed we could teach ourselves how to build up walls so we can keep our inner, more private thoughts to ourselves but still wordlessly communicate with each other.

While I admit, it was kinda cool to be able to hold "mind chats" as Mikey would call them without having to talk out loud, the first few months were quite headache-inducing with all of Raph's mutterings, Donnie's scientific knowledge, and Mikey's comic rants constantly running through my mind over and over again. I was beyond relieved when all four of us finally mastered the ability to block out each from the more private and best-kept-hidden parts of our minds.

I was abruptly pulled from memory lane as my favorite genius brother stumbled into the kitchen, long brown hair flattened on one side. I could see the keyboard imprinted on his cheek and winced_, How he manages to sleep in there at all is a miracle in itself._

"Morning Don." I greeted as he managed to stagger by me. He gave me a quick nod in reply and immediately made a beeline for the coffeemaker. I sighed but didn't take any offense by his curt greeting. Anyone who keeps Donnie from his coffee is like keeping a mother grizzly from her cubs - you know you're just asking for trouble.

By the time Don had downed half of his caffeine goodness, it was like someone had flipped a switch on in him. Immediately his chocolate-brown eyes lit up, sparkling with the familiar kindness and intelligence.

"Good morning Leo, Kaasan!" Don properly greeted us before walking over to fill his plate with some pancakes. Like me, Don also preferred calling our mother using a Japanese honorific, but he used the more informal version "Kaasan" to address her.

Okaasan managed to pry her eyes away from the TV and smiled at Don. "And a good morning to you too Donatello. How'd you sleep sweetie?" she replied.

"Eh…" Don said sheepishly while unconsciously rubbing the back of his neck. "Ok I guess." He finally answered while avoiding eye contact.

I couldn't help but a smirk a little at his obvious lie. _Don, you are even worse at fibbing than me, and that's saying something._

_I would advise you to keep that mandible from flapping if I were you, big brother._ He replied in a light and conversational tone that would normally make me cringe. But I wasn't the one about to receive the dreaded maternal third-degree, so for the moment I felt safe.

Okaasan apparently wasn't buying it either as she quizzically raised one thin eyebrow while pointedly looking at the imprint on Don's face. Confused, my genius bro lifted one hand to trace the pattern on his cheek before flushing upon realization that he'd been caught.

"Well," she finally replied after drilling her eyes into his for an uncomfortable minute or so, "Just make sure you stay awake for the whole school day. I would not like a repeat of your seventh grade science fair fiasco. It took the cleaning staff almost a week to scrape all that peanut butter off the gym walls." Donnie flushed an even darker shade of pink at the mention of that bleak day during the accursed science fair_. I don't think that gymnasium will ever smell the same again_, I thought to myself while shaking my head.

After making Don squirm under her unwavering gaze for another two agonizing minutes, Okaasan finally nodded in apparent satisfaction and peeled her eyes away from Don's before returning to her show.

I heard a faint sigh of relief from my brother knowing he was off the hook for now before he grabbed a poppy-seed bagel and stuck it in the toaster, then joined me at the table while still nursing his liquid life.

"So," Don asked after he'd finished stirring his coffee and practically inhaled half of it in about 5 seconds flat, "I know I will most likely regret asking, but where have our two Neanderthal siblings gotten off to…"

Suddenly a loud shout came from outside the kitchen, followed by some sputtering and cursing and a rather large thump, accompanied by some even viler cursing that would have made a sailor cringe.

Don and I sighed at the exact same time and looked at each other. "Mikey?" Don asked in a half-question half-statement sort of way. "Mikey." I answered affirmatively and waited for the bomb to drop.

The cursing continued for another few seconds before abruptly stopping. There was a short pause, followed by a familiar, "MIKEEEEEEEEEEEEEEY!"

Some more thumping followed, accompanied by the pounding of feet. "I REGRET NOTHING!" Came the rambunctious reply before a small blonde blur raced into the kitchen and proceeded to barricade itself behind my chair.

I raised an eyebrow and looked down at my youngest brother. Mikey's baby blues were gazing up at me in a pleading look only younger brothers are capable of. His golden hair was tousled, framing his small pale face dusted with light freckles on his nose and cheekbones.

Another roar came from the kitchen before our final raging sibling charged into the room, murderous intent clearly glinting in his eyes.

"Where is he?" Raph growled while scanning the room with his sharp amber eyes. "Where is that stupid brat? He's got an appointment with my fist, and it sure as shell don't like to be kept waiting…"

With the tall muscular frame, untamed spiky red hair, and glowing golden eyes, you'd think a demon out of Hell had come crashing through our kitchen. The sight would have been quite intimidating if not for the slimy green goo that covered his head and shoulders while slowly dripping onto the floor.

Don and I attempted to hide our snickers, but it was a losing battle and after about a minute we both exploded into laughter and held our stomachs while trying not to fall off our chairs. Raph turned his piercing glare on us, but I was laughing too hard to care. Usually I try not to encourage Mikey's pranks by reacting to them, but this one was just too priceless and really helped take off some of the first-day-of-school stress.

As Donnie and I were temporarily incapacitated, Mikey was left defenseless and eeped when Raph's narrowed eyes finally locked onto him still crouched behind my chair.

With a roar our hotheaded brother hurled himself at the table, knocking various chairs, silverware, and brothers out of the way to reach his prize.

In the midst of the scuffle that followed Don and I were somehow pulled in until it was a four-way brawl using dishes and pancakes in a manner best left to the imagination. We were on the verge of an all-out food fight when a piercing whistle echoed throughout the small kitchen.

Four heads rose out of the dust to face the wrath of a mother whose kitchen tranquility has been disturbed. I could see Okaasan with her hands on her hips, eyes narrowed in warning while brandishing her spatula in a surprisingly threatening manner. Immediately we separated and muttered various apologies:

"Moushiwake arimasen, Okaasan."

"Yeah, sorry bout that Ma."

"Hai, Sumimasen Kaasan."

"Sorry Mom, but Raphie was practically asking for it…"

"I'll show ya askin', ya lil' punk!" And with a girly shriek, Mikey sped out of the kitchen with Raph enthusiastically resuming chase. Once the dust had settled I looked around to see pancakes and powdered sugar spattered all over the walls and ceiling, dishes and silverware were scattered on the floor, not to mention the gloppy pancake batter that now covered the kitchen's three remaining occupants from head to toe.

Don and I looked at each other and sighed again before taking off after our brothers while yelling at them to clean up their own messes.

As I followed down out of the kitchen I could just catch Okaasan muttering about the similarities between teenage boys and Tasmanian devils.

I couldn't help but smile. _Yup, just the way to start off high school. I have a feeling this is going to be a life-changing next few years for us. _And my gut feelings were never wrong.

**Sound good? Let your review-starved author know in the text box below!**

**(I know that's a rhyme, I just have way too much time...)**


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